Photo credit: Joanna Scarratt of United Agents

Whether you’re ready or not, all Facebook pages will convert to the new Timeline format on March 30, 2012. Here’s a couple tips on what to expect and how to utilize the new features to their fullest potential:

New page features

Two columns: For page visitors, the column on the right will show their friends’ activity with the page, and will be different for each person viewing the page.

Milestones highlight important moments throughout a brand/company’s lifetime. Ideas of what to document as a milestone might include:

• When the company was incorporated.
• When a new product was launched.
• When a new store/office opened.
• Major philanthropic event.

Star a post to make it bigger and span across both columns.

Pin a post for it to appear at the top of the page for 7 days.

Changes to page photos (with specs)

Large photo spanning across the top is a great opportunity to make an immediate impact on the user: 851×315. This cannot include:

• Purchase, price or discount information.
• Call-to-action.

Custom applications now appear as small squares on the top of the profile, and can have custom photos: 111×74.

• You have the option to choose which ones are immediately visible.

Page profile picture: 180×180.

New features for page administrators

• Admin panel shows notifications to administrators.
• Activity log shows all the posts by the page including hidden posts.
• Fans can send private messages to the page, admins can respond.
• Admin panel appears at the top of the page with notifications, new likes, insights and messages.
• Activity log shows all posts, even deleted or hidden posts.

Other changes

“Fan Gates” are no longer supported.

Insights are now visible to all, including likes and people talking about this.

• This is beneficial when doing research on other companies and competitors to see how their page is doing and what’s working for them.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/about/pages.

Also included was a separate story about The Copperheads, the tournament’s host organization and one of the area’s biggest fundraisers for local charities.

(Click here to view the print edition).

The Transitions Championship will be held the week after next, March 12-18. Tampa Bay’s PGA TOUR event offers a week of world-class golf for ardent fans, and a slew of other activities for casual fans and fun-lovers.

Tickets range from $10 to $239.

See more info and updates on Facebook and Twitter.

Kyle Parks welcoming the crowd at the Fellows Forum. Photo by Jessica Leigh, University of Tampa

Bayview PR was excited to be involved in the University of Tampa Fellows Forum, which drew 1,000 businesspeople Tuesday morning to the Straz Center to hear from three national-level business leaders.

Bayview president Kyle Parks chairs the UT Board of Fellows this year. The group’s Forum committee, led by Steve Murray of UBS Financial Services, raised a record $69,000 in corporate sponsorships for the event, which benefits UT’s Sykes College of Business.

That’s quite a figure in the current economy, reflecting how Tampa Bay’s business community has embraced the University of Tampa, which is thriving under the leadership of President Ron Vaughn.

A story on the Forum appeared in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

More photos by Jessica Leigh can be found at www.jlpflorida.com.

A few clients have been with us since the beginning – USAmeriBank, Franklin Street, Fisher & Phillips, Walter Investment Management Corp., for example – and we’re thankful for the partnerships we’ve developed. Their continued support, and the addition of some major new clients – Transitions Championship, Ybor City Development Corp., and Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central & Southwest Florida, to name a few – helped us nearly double revenue in 2011.

While we’ve grown exponentially, we’re committed to keeping our quality of work high. Three things, among many, are fundamental to our approach to public relations:

1. PR is not “one size fits all.” In a time of shrinking traditional news media, fast-growing social media and tight marketing budgets, each client requires (and deserves) different strategies and tactics to achieve goals.
2. Targeting pays off. By taking the time to research outlets and read material from journalists, we’ve developed a deeper understanding of the issues facing a client’s audience and how their expertise can shed light on issues, resulting in a better chance of coverage now (or in the future).
3. Learn to work with the media. Completing our required media training helps our clients feel prepared to talk with the media, understand how the process works, and increase their chance of being quoted as a resource.

We look forward to many more years of helping clients communicate with the audiences that matter most to them!

See stories tonight on 10 News (WTSP), ABC Action News (WFTS), My Fox Tampa Bay (WTVT), or NewsChannel 8 (WFLA).

Woodland’s visit launched the countdown to this year’s Transitions Championship, to be held March 12 to 18 at Innisbrook Resort. Part of the PGA TOUR’s FedEx Cup, the Transitions Championship has become a major international sporting event offering such benefits to the community as:

• Millions of dollars in economic impact for local businesses,
• Millions of dollars generated for local charities, and
• Worldwide television coverage of the Tampa Bay area.

More at TransitionsChampionship.com, and see updates on Facebook and Twitter.

(Photos by Missy)…

Finding unique ways to reach and engage your target audience for a B2C company can be challenging, though social media is a great place to start. For instance, a social media contest can offer: 

• Potential for news media coverage,
• a further engaged fan base talking about your brand, and
• a way to show your company likes to have fun and give back to its customers.

Once you have an established profile, steady flow of information, and solid fan base (very important), you may be ready to experiment with the various applications available on Facebook, Twitter, or whichever social network best reaches your current customers and other target audiences.

Bayview recently launched a Facebook contest for Herman Home, an upscale interior design center in Downtown St. Petersburg, where fans have a chance to win a living room makeover.

The “Drab to Fab” contest encourages participants to upload a photo of their lackluster living room with an entertaining caption on why they deserve a new one. They then ask their friends to vote for them for the chance to win:

• Grand prize: $5,000 living room makeover
• Second place: Piece of artwork valued over $1,000
• Third place: Piece from the design center valued over $300

Feel free to participate or invite your friends, family and anyone else in need of a new living room.

That was one message of a Jan. 6 Tampa Bay Business Journal article describing the importance of communication for companies going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Kyle Parks was quoted in the article, saying that companies need to build goodwill, and think through communications, before a crisis happens.

As former Director of Corporate Communications for Walter Industries, a $1.5-billion conglomerate at the time, Kyle handled crisis communications related to a major coal mining accident, a violent employee strike, and environmental issues.

He stresses that having a comprehensive communications plan in place is important to an organization’s well-being. Here are three key elements of a crisis plan:

1. Identify potentially damaging scenarios, and assign a general action plan to each;
2. Designate an internal team for each scenario, including lead spokespeople;
3. For each scenario, prepare customizable key messages to use in crafting statements for internal audiences, the news media, customers/clients and the general public.

• Grew chapter membership by 18 percent
• Invested in members by offering four scholarships to the 2011 PRSA International Conference
• Supported seven chapter members in pursuing their Accreditation in Public Relations (APR)
• Created a YouTube channel to share key learnings from professional development
• Launched new website with upgraded features and interactivity

I’m thankful for the support of the 12 Board members and 20+ committee chairpersons and members who contributed to the Chapter’s successes. The Board and committees manage the most valuable chapter benefits – monthly continuing education programs, an annual media roundtable with FPRA, a daylong PR seminar, special interest groups and a bi-monthly newsletter, to name a few. Their dedication and determination keeps the all-volunteer organization vibrant and successful.

Just a few days ago, I passed the gavel to Angela Walters, marketing manager for Hillsborough Community College. I look forward to seeing her lead the chapter to new heights while preparing for the PRSA District Conference, sunshine2012, in June.

A version of this post first appeared in the PRSA Tampa Bay Chapter newsletter in early December 2011.

Residents of the Tampa Bay area will join St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital supporters in 80 communities across the country on Saturday, November 19, for the Give thanks. Walk., a family friendly event bringing teams and individuals together to support the children of St. Jude.

More than 500 participants are expected to join together at the USF Track & Field stadium for the noncompetitive 5K walk serving as the official kick-off event for the national St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign.

Last year, the second year of Tampa’s Give thanks. Walk., more than 22,000 walkers participated in 63 events nationwide, raising more than $2.4 million. In Tampa alone, more than 400 walkers participated and raised $65,000.

The walk is nationally sponsored by New York & Company, Brooks Brothers and AutoTrader.com. Local sponsors include USF, 99.5 WQYK, 92.5 Maxima, Q105, Play 98.7, 1010 Sports, ABC Action News, ClearChannel Digital Outdoor and American Medical Response. Local volunteers from Epsilon Sigma Alpha will also be onsite helping with the event and Lily the Clown will be sponsoring the kids’ play area.

Money raised from the walk will go toward treatment for each child, as St. Jude never requires families that are not covered by insurance to cover the cost of their child’s treatment.

Check-in for the St. Jude Give thanks. Walk. begins at 8am at the USF Track & Field stadium, and a Zumba warm-up begins at 8:45am.

Leah is dedicating more time toward higher-level account management work, fulfilling a leadership role with clients’ social media strategies, and managing the firm’s internship program, as just a few examples of Leah’s role with Bayview.

She has also expanded her industry involvement, specifically with the Tampa Bay chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA). Having served on FPRA Tampa Bay’s Board of Directors since 2009, Leah was recently named President-Elect for the 2011-2012 year.  

In preparation, she attended FPRA’s annual state conference in August, joining other organization leaders and PR professionals from around the state.